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The concept of mentality is one of the key notions in the research technology discussed. Usually the term "mentality" is used in relation to different cultural characteristics, and it is interpreted as "the property of mind characteristic of a specific individuals or class of individuals". This definition stresses the uniqueness of a certain property, which differentiates between classes of individuals. We are interested in qualities or properties of mind common for a certain class of individuals - that is what we call a "shared mentality". In this case it is the unique characteristic components of shared mentality that determine mentality in its customary sense. Obviously, it's too a general definition that should be specified and made operational. Henceforth we will use the term "mentality" meaning "shared mentality".

 

 

 

Relativity of the Subjective and Objective

 

One can obtain objective characteristics of any system by analyzing its behavior under different conditions and influences. However, unlike common classical systems of natural sciences, social systems can interpret one and the same influence quite differently, and therefore, come up with different reactions. Most sociological and marketing research projects refuse to take this fact into account, although there have been some attempts to solve this problem by formal segmentation of consumer market. This  does not yield an adequate result. It is caused by the fact that the interpretation of an influence preferred by a specific mentality is determined by the inner regulations and never by accidental external forces.

 

Therefore, there are certain factors that should be taken into account when studying mentality (shared mentality) in some conditions:

 

 

Having disclosed these mechanisms, we can differentiate the integral reaction of a society (see paragraph "Semantic Analysis: Research Technique") into independent components, and turn from statistic methods of its description to formally logical methods of its prediction (see paragraph "Semantic Analysis: the Role of Mentality in the World View Outlined By the Humanities and Natural Sciences").

 

The subjective obviously does not contradict the objective. In fact, we can structurally distinguish between different types of subjective reality for a certain class-individuals (see paragraph "Semantic Analysis: Methodological Aspects"), as well as use them for the objective analysis of subjective reality. Every type of subjective reality here is governed by its specific rules and regulations. The specifics are determined by both their individual generic factors and external adaptation context of individuals. Their similarity results in commonness of "mentalities" or "shared mentality".

 

There's no single universal reality for all. However, within any shared mentality there can be common positioning components (see Examples) independent of a subject, and therefore, objective components of this reality.

 

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